CD Reviews

Patti doing her thing even at very the begining

02/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great cd of Patti Labelle and Bluebelles music while they were at Atlantic records. Unfortunately they didn't have great success with them, but this CD exemplify the powerhouse vocals of Miss Patti Labelle. Nobody can touch Miss Patti. Patti and her group should have gotten the same push Aretha Franklin was getting when she was with Atlantic records. This CD contains the Bluebelles original recording of "Somewhere over the Rainbow". The recording doesn't sound anything like the version Patti does at her live concerts. She usually split the house in half when she sing this song. She is vocally over powering her singing partners on "Patti Prayer". I'm still waiting is great song. Number 9 "I don't want to go one without you" is my absolute favorite. The Bluebelles do a knock out version of Dionne Warwick's "something there to remind me". From tracks 13 until the end of this CD are songs group member Cindy Birdsong don't appear on. She left the group to replace Florence Ballard in the Supremes in July 1967. When she was in the group the Bluebelles didn't sound like a four harmony part group. After she left you can here three distinctive voices in the group. Patti Labelle with her soaring first soprano, Sarah Dash with her sweet but powerful second soprano, and Nona Hendryx with her soulful deep alto. It's a shame these girls never attain the success they deserve. I sometimes wonder what it was like for Nona and Sarah to sing with powerhouse diva like Patti Labelle. I surprise that Patti was ever a part of a group ensemble. The last two songs on this CD are great especially Suffer with Sarah doing her operatic backing vocals. Great singers. Great Cd."

Patti & The Bluebelles Rare Atlantic Singles !

gassy goon | 02/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is a godsend, as it contains all the non-LP singles that Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles released on Atlantic from 1965-1969. The group recorded some GREAT records. It contains the excellent hits that charted like ALL OR NOTHING [ which was Luther Vandross' personal favorite ], TAKE ME FOR A LITTLE WHILE, and I'M STILL WAITING. One of this CD's biggest strengths, apart from the amazing vocal talents of Patti, Nona Hendryx, Sarah Dash & even Cindy Birdsong before she left for The Supremes in 1967 , is the inclusion of the many, many rare singles , including B-sides that never made it on their only 2 Atlantic albums, OVER THE RAINBOW and DREAMER. The compiler, David Nathan, a noted writer & historian on soul music, expertly collected all the rarest sides, and wisely left off album material from the 2 unreleased albums. It's nothing but prime Patti here. Earlier singles like the first version of OVER THE RAINBOW , A GROOVY KIND OF LOVE [ it's been said that they were the first artists to do this song ], and I DON'T WANT TO GO ON WITHOUT YOU are ballad oriented soul/pop. They group could also wail on gutbucket soul like FAMILY MAN and HE'S MY MAN . OH MY LOVE is a very emotional drenched ballad, not unlike UNCHAINED MELODY in sound , which is on the OVER THE RAINBOW LP. Also, you get the first ever song written by Nona Hendryx that the group did, I NEED YOUR LOVE, a beauty with nice harmonies & melodies. Sarah Dash also wrote her first song ever on the Philly sounding, LOVING RULES. On later songs like PRIDE'S NO MATCH FOR LOVE and HE'S GONE , you can clearly hear the blend of Patti/Sarah/Nona more distinctly - the sound that would in 2 years or so, evolve into LABELLE. The vocal acrobatics that Patti is known for are here, but more subdued , and the gospel combination of their voices together can especially be heard on HE'S MY MAN, HE'S GONE and PRIDE'S NO MATCH FOR LOVE. How these singles did not chart at all is a mystery, as soul was huge in the 60's and Atlantic was having giant success with many of their artists. This CD collects together all the lone-singles that have been forever hard to collect. It is soul music delivered by one of the greatest singers ever. Don't miss out on this collector's item. It was done the right way, a totally perfect package of hard-to-find music, expert liner notes , with a lot of love and care."